Real Madrid: The reasonable offer Arsenal are prepared to give for Isco
Real Madrid midfielder Isco is available on the transfer market this winter after requesting his exit, and Arsenal could be interested.
There should be at least a handful of teams around Europe with serious interest in Real Madrid attacking midfielder Isco, who wants to leave the club after falling down the pecking order in Zinedine Zidane’s rotation.
Isco has played nearly 300 minutes in La Liga this season, but he’s made more appearances off the bench than starts. He was briefly a key player for Real in 2020 – impressing in wins over Valencia, Osasuna, and Barcelona – but he has been a clear backup option in 2020-2021 since the team called back Martin Odegaard from his excellent loan spell at Real Sociedad.
According to a report from TodoFichajes.com, Arsenal are one of the teams interested in Isco, which comes as no surprise. The North London club, which has current Madridista Dani Ceballos on loan as a key midfielder, could use a creative attacking player. Mikel Arteta’s squad is lacking in that department in the midst of their struggles.
Per TodoFichajes.com, Arsenal are prepared to offer Real Madrid a loan deal with an obligation to buy in order to acquire Isco. They would sign Isco on loan this January and then pay 30 million euros for his services after the 2020-2021 season ends.
The key is that it is reportedly an obligation to buy and not an option to buy. Based on reporting from AS, Los Blancos are not interested in loan deals, because they want to make a sale. They need to raise cash, as they have ambitious transfer targets in 2021 – most notably PSG’s Kylian Mbappe. Selling Isco would be a huge help.
An obligation to buy changes things when a loan is concerned, since Real Madrid would make money. The issue is the 30 million euros. AS say that Los Blancos want more than 60 million euros for Isco.
But that’s entirely unrealistic and is probably why they have no offers right now. James Rodriguez did not even go for that much money, and Real can probably only get a little more for Isco than the 25 million euros they apparently got for James (there’s still some dispute if they got anything at all).
Next. Real Madrid's reaction to Isco's transfer request. dark
Either way, 30 million euros sounds more realistic than 65 to 70 million euros. Arsenal have the funds and need for Isco, so they are definitely a team to watch as we get closer to the winter transfer window.